Giffords’ decision: Could she have run?

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Sunday announced her decision to step down from Congress this week, just about a year after she was shot in the head while meeting with constituents. Six other people were killed in the Jan. 8 rampage. Giffords has been slowly recovering, but her speech is slow and halting, and it is unclear how much mental ability she has lost.

This wasn’t exactly unexpected, and there are already plenty of people lining up to run for her post. But there did seem to be an uncomfortable uncertainty about whether Giffords would try to stay or not, no matter how unlikely it seemed that, given her limited ability to communicate, she could wage a credible race.

Arizona Republic columnist E. J. Montini suggests that it wasn’t Giffords who was clinging to the possibility of her staying on so much as other people who wanted a miracle: “It was unreasonable and perhaps selfish of us to expect such a thing,” he writes.

I’m not close to the situation in Arizona and his sense of things may well be correct, but I’m more inclined to think that this was one of those situations in which, as bitter as politics can get, no one wanted to be the one to say she needed to step down. It might have happened soon, though, and she and those around her realized that.

What do you think? Do you think Giffords could have run again? Why do you think she waited as long as she did? Is is appropriate for staffers to essentially take over nearly all of a representatives duties, in this case for more than a year, in a situation like this?

10 Responses

She made the right choice. Sure she could have run, which is probably why she took so long to bow out.

Regarding staffers taking over, did you ask the same question about Ted Kennedy’s staffers running his office when he was clearly debilitated at the end of his life? What about Robert Byrd or Strom Thurmund? It may not be ideal for staffers to take over (obviously only the Congressman can vote) but it probably beats the alternative where someone (who?) decides fitness for the job.

I think she had little or no input into the decisions / announcements regarding her political future. As cold as this may sound, I firmly believe she was propped up, told what to say and then was pushed out before the cameras at opportune times. Just to periodically quench the public’s thirst.

I also think her husband enjoyed the limelight, and his true dedication will now be put to the test — now that that light has been turned off.

This woman deserves all the credit in the world for enduring the never-ending, invasive media coverage that was foisted upon her, and I wish her well.

I was sorry to learn Rep. Giffords is stepping down. But the simple truth is that no one but she, her husband, and her doctors knows the full story. I suspect that if she had run for reelection, her opponent would have felt inhibited–unwilling to risk letting anyone think for a moment that he or she was taking advantage of Giffords’ condition. And she would have been reelected, however poorly she performed on the stump.

I can’t help hoping that something else was involved–a “something else” that might take up a lot of her time. Remember how badly she wanted a baby? Her husband said they have at least a couple frozen embryos. So they might still be able to have that baby, using a surrogate “mother” to carry it to term. Even if Giffords herself didn’t have to carry the child in her womb and give birth to it, caring for it later could be a full-time job!

I don’t think she is gaining as fast as Bob Woodruf did and she may never have the same level of intelectual ability that she had prior to the shooting. Someone can’t be voted into a job because we feel sorry for them. They have to be able to understand and contribute at a level that Gabby just hasn’t returned to…at least not yet…especially in a job as high level as a US rep…So for now it’s the best choice she could make…when she is fully recovered she can again pursue a career in politics…no one after all is going to forget and it’s more than likely that she would be re-elected…

#4: While you’re trying to find someone to blame for the actions of a mentally disturbed killer with no political agenda (beyond alleged personal animus towards Giffords), you should add these to your list:

Many years ago, when I worked at GE, I became a group leader. The job was overwelming. I remember a mangaer telling me, “it takes more courage to step down, to admit, not defeat, but the job just isn’t for me”. So I did step down, and felt and slept a lot better. Give Rep. Giffords credit, wheather she or someone else made the decision..it was the right one. She still has a long rehab. ahead. She, and everyone else involved in that terrible day, needs our prayers for healing, forgiveness, and recovery.

#4′s comment is completely off topic. It has nothing to do with the issue in question and is just bashing someone completely unrelated to the story or the question posed by the op-ed. I wonder if Giffords had been a Republican and her opponent a Democrat who did the exact same thing if this comment would’ve been published, hmm?

No she should not have run again, she is not capable of carrying out the duties of a congressperson at this time. She waited until now to give Obummer the opportunity to exploit this tragedy. Quite frankly, staffers do 90% of the work of the representatives any way, thats why thier staffs are so large, trouble is most of them are under gag orders, so they serve little purpose for the people.